NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4 - Chapter 4: Bitter First Battle
Chapter 4: Bitter First Battle
Walking cautiously for about an hour, my nerves on edge, I still hadn’t encountered any monsters. Slime, where are you? Rats, none. Initially, I carefully moved back and forth near the exit, but eventually, I got bored and ventured a bit deeper.
Kikikikikik!!
Three small-sized creatures, about the size of a small dog, emerged from a side hole near my feet, running towards me.
“Huh? Nghh!”
The creature that jumped out immediately bit into my leg. I hastily tried to fend it off with the mace, but the beast, undeterred, bit down with its powerful jaws, attempting to tear through the skin over my boots.
“I-dai! I-dai! I-dai!! This, this!”
With tears in my eyes, I struck their heads. Initially hesitant, the pain made me forget about it. A gruesome sensation as the mace crushed their skulls. With a final, agonizing cry, they each went down. Before I knew it, some small change and rat tails lay at my feet. So, this was a Giant Rat.
I gathered the coins with trembling hands, leaving the tails behind. While they serve as proof of subjugation, selling them would be peanuts, and it would be a hassle to take them to the guild. For now, let’s take a break outside the dungeon.
Earlier, I was excited, but now that I’m outside, the pain from my wounds suddenly intensified. Come to think of it, did the unclean fangs of those monsters bite me, causing an infection? Sitting in the grass to check my feet, I found a hole in the newly purchased leather boots, stained with blood. I hurriedly rinsed it with water from my canteen and applied a potion. The dropped coins were 900 gold, and the potion was 5,000 gold. The leather boots cost 25,000 gold. Still wearable, but it’s a considerable loss. This was my bitter first battle.
I stood in a daze at the entrance of the cave for a while, but there were still three hours until the shared carriage back. While it’s not an unreasonable distance to walk back to the capital, going back like this was irritating. Anyway, the boots are ruined this time. It wouldn’t hurt to have one more fight before going back. I don’t want a repeat of what happened earlier, but this time, I’ll hit them hard from the start.
I entered the cave again. From the same hole where the rats had emerged earlier, rats once again appeared. What, is this a fixed spawn point? This time, there were two. I fended them off one by one with my cloak, securing victory without any injuries. Then, directly in my ears, a “Papa pa pa paan♪” fanfare sounded. It seems I leveled up.
Wait, it rings? Fanfare. Heartwarming.
Come to think of it, even though I reincarnated into another world, I haven’t tried that word yet.
“Status, open.”
——But nothing happened. Good, for now, I’m alone. If someone had seen it, it would have been awkward.
Even so, I had never thought about becoming an adventurer until now, so I had never heard that gaining experience in battle would trigger fanfare in my mind. Does it happen to everyone? And while I often hear about C-rank or B-rank adventurers, how do they all confirm their strength?
“Status,” “Open,” “Window Open,” “Window,” “Command.”
I tried several words, but there was no sign of anything happening. Damn it, does this function not exist for mobs or NPCs?
『Status open is just for show; important people don’t understand that』
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, I muttered to myself in Japanese. Then, a green window appeared in front of me. Is “Status Open” even Japanese!
Name: Alexi Appel
Race: Human
Title: Appel Trading Company Heir
Level: 2
HP: 40
MP: 60
POW: 4
INT: 6
AGI: 4
DEX: 6
Attribute: Earth
Skills:
None
E: Mace
E: Leather Armor
E: Leather Boots (Damaged)
E: Mantle
Status Points Remaining: 0
Skill Points Remaining: 20
That’s right. I’m Earth attribute, and my brother used to make fun of me, saying I’m not cut out to be an adventurer. He’s Wind attribute, somewhat mediocre. But if I’m Earth attribute, there must be some use for it. Farming in three years might be challenging, but you know, something like this…
Either way, if the status can only be displayed in Japanese, there’s almost no one in this world who can see this screen. This might be an advantage. In the first place, I rushed into the dungeon, but I’ve realized that I hardly know anything about adventurers. Tomorrow is a fresh start. I’ll visit the Adventurer’s Guild.
In the end, the day’s catch was five rats, earning 1,500 gold. On the other hand, the initial investment was approximately 100,000 gold in total. The expenses, including potions, boots, travel expenses, and other consumables, amounted to around 40,000 gold. However, it’s not a problem. I still have plenty of pocket money saved up.
My battle is just beginning!